It is known to produce such a container, and in particular a yoghurt pot or similar, by means thermoforming a sheet of plastic to form the volume. Typically, the plastic sheet is heated and then drawn into a cavity such as by vacuum and/or pressure. As the sheet is drawn into the cavity, the thickness of the portion of the sheet drawn into the cavity is reduced as the sheet material is stretched into the cavity. With such a method, the side wall of the body is thin, while the flange has the same thickness and the same rigidity as the original sheet of plastic.
The plastic containers are conventionally sealed with membranes and can be manufactured and sold in a multiple portion packaging tray comprising an array of separable containers. The containers are generally arranged in layers of four, six or eight pots, the containers being connected to one another along their flanges. The French patent FR 2 432 975 describes a pack of plastic flanged containers, in which an individual container may be removed by tearing a separation region provided between two adjacent flanges. After separation, each container flange still has four outer side edges so as to keep integrity of the content. These containers work well when made of relatively brittle plastic. Use of less brittle or more pliable polymers makes the containers more difficult to break apart. Such a difficulty may cause escape of the content when breaking other parts of the container.
In food packaging industry, the plastic containers can be stacked on top of one another so as to form stacks which can be layered on a pallet. A loading weight on a pallet may be much more than 500 kg. Such stacks allow the packaging items at the bottom to withstand the compressive load of the packaging items on top. The plastic containers layers are typically stored in cardboard trays each having a bottom and side walls preventing lateral tilting of the layers.
Set fermented dairy compositions are known. For these compositions fermentation of milk is typically performed in the container, allowing setting of milk proteins and formation of whey that stays in the container. Presence of whey is usually not appreciated by consumers; there is always a concern to reduce the amount of whey or at least the perception of whey in products comprising a set fermented dairy composition in a container.
It has been surprising found that the amount of whey, or at least the perception thereof, is increased when the container has a circular shape. There is a need for products comprising a set fermented dairy composition and a circular shape plastic container, that present a reduced increase of whey or perception thereof.